Transportation

Call-A-Ride customers and advocates want Metro Transit to better engage with the disability community and listen to their input.

The transportation sector accounts for about 28% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Barge shipping could help reduce that output, but there’s not a full picture of how carbon efficient that transportation mode really is.

Metro Transit hopes to attract new mechanics, electricians and operators with a $5,000 signing bonus. In recent years, the agency has reduced routes because it didn’t have enough drivers. Officials say the incentives will help riders receive better service.

Amtrak and the Illinois Department of Transportation received federal approval for the trains traveling between Chicago and St. Louis to have a maximum speed of 110 mph, up from 90 mph.

A St. Louis tech startup plans to deliver its first electrified and remote-controlled train cars to mining companies later this year. Intramotev company representatives also hope to market its TugVolt trains to companies that rely on shipping by truck.

Advocates said it's hard for disabled people to find jobs and get to medical appointments without paratransit services that would be cut in some areas on April 10.

The Senate appropriations chief is floating a bond-funded plan to beef up a Interstate 70 project to add new lanes across the state.

Metro Call-A-Ride paratransit services will reduce services in parts of St. Louis County starting next month. Metro officials say they need to cut routes to help reduce trip denials and phone reservation wait times. But advocates for people with disabilities worry that the reduced bus service will limit their independence.

Truck drivers have a limit: 14 hours. After that long work day, they have to park. The truck has to stop and it can’t move again for 10 hours. But finding a place to park an 80-foot-long semi can be a nightmare, one that endangers truckers and slows down commerce. Truckers have been struggling for decades to get Washington to do something about it.

A national shortage of 80,000 truck drivers is spurring worry about the country's reliance on long-haul shipping.